Fishing For Monsters
by newbienovelistRD
Summary: Rachel goes to Grimer's Lake to face it's monster. But is she really up to the challenge?


**With a little help from GoldGuardian2418, here's another story!**

It was a beautiful sunny day at the beach. Rachel was laying on the warm sand, she stretched her arms out and let out a pleasant noise.

"This is the life." she said. She looked over and saw all the people swimming and splashing, having the time of their lives. Seeing those people have such fun, Rachel sighed, wishing she could join them.

"Hey there."

Rachel looked over and her heart fluttered. She saw a tall, handsome boy with short, dark hair and a pretty good tan. With him was a shorter, yet pale looking boy.

Rachel blushed a little. "Uh, h-hi."

The tan boy smiled. "Wanna go for a swim with us?"

Rachel blinked, then looked down. "No thanks."

"Told you she didn't want to come." the pale boy said. "Let's go, there are better girls at this beach than her."

Rachel's jaw dropped and her fuse was lit. She stood up and before she said a word, the tan boy spoke first.

"That's wasn't very nice, Nick. What's so bad about her anyway?"

"You mean you don't know?" Nick said. "She's the monster whisperer."

"Monster whisperer?!" Travis and Rachel said together.

"Yeah, I heard she lives in the old Grant Mansion and it's full of monsters." Nick said.

Travis rolled his eyes. "Come on, Nick. Everyone knows monsters aren't real."

Nick folded his arms. "Oh yeah? Then let's head over to Grimer's Lake and see if it really has a monster."

"W-What monster?!" Rachel said a little nervous.

"It's just an old wives' tale made up to scare little kids." Travis said. "It's not-"

"They say it's a terrifying fish man!" Nick interrupted. "Who hides himself in the lake and devours anyone who dares enter his domain!"

Rachel gulped at little, but Travis just let out a sigh. "Don't listen to him, Rachel. He's just trying to scare you."

"And it looks like I'm doing a pretty good job!" Nick laughed, seeing Rachel all nervous.

Rachel stomped her foot. "No you're not! Let's go over to that lake tonight and see who can last the longest!" There was no way that kid was going to make her look dumb, especially in front of a cute boy like Travis.

"You're on!" The two shook hands while Travis face palmed.

When night fell, Rachel looked at the lake, waiting for Nick. No wonder it was called Grimer's lake, the water was dark green and murky. Rachel shined her flashlight at the water, but she couldn't see a single thing down there.

Rachel gulped, this would be the perfect place for a monster.

As Rachel's stared into the gross waters, her mind envisioned what this sea monster will look like. Will he have gills and fins and walk on his hind legs? Will he be the kind of fish with big, ugly teeth? Or-

"BOO!"

Rachel screamed as she felt herself pushed into the lake. She screamed and flailed around trying to get out, but the water was actually much deeper than she thought.

"HELP!" Rachel cried out, the water was rising to her neck. "I can't swim!"

Nick strolled to the edge of the lake and just watched her. He let out a laugh. "That monster's gonna like tonight's dinner."

Rachel screamed and screamed as she struggled to keep her head up.

Then something caught Nick's eye, he looked down and bubbles come up from the water. Then a clawed, scaly hand reached out of the water and clutched Nick's face.

Nick's screams were muffled by the hand as it took Nick into the water. A few seconds later, Nick was launched out of the water several feet in the air before crashing painfully on the ground.

Running on panic and fear, Rachel managed to dog paddle to the edge of the lake and pull herself out. She gasped for breath. Then something jumped out of the water and landed before her.

Rachel looked up and screamed bloody murder. It was the fish man, he looked like a cross between a man and and an angler fish. He walked like a man, but he was covered in fish scales and had a mouthful of sharp, awful teeth.

Rachel's body froze and trembled as the monster loomed over her. His eyes squinted, he opened his large jaws and released a ferocious roar.

Rachel let out a squeal and fainted with a thud.

The monster stopped roaring and looked at the girl, unconscious on the ground. He blinked and covered his mouth. "Uh-oh..."

Rachel felt something wet drip on her face. She opened her eyes and the first thing she saw was the sea monster.

"You okay?" he asked with a deep, gasping voice.

Rachel screamed and tried to run away, but a stone wall was blocking her way. It looked like she was in a cave of some kind. She turned and saw the monster reaching for her.

Rachel screamed again and pressed against the wall, shivering tenfold. "S-Stay away from me!"

The monster held his hands up, Rachel's heart sank when she saw those razor sharp claws. "Now just calm down, kid. Calm down!"

But Rachel didn't listen, she was too distracted by those terrible teeth.

Rachel ran the other way and screamed. "HELP ME! HELP ME! A MONSTER'S GONNA EAT ME!" she shrieked.

She saw a pool of water and realized it was her only way out. Rachel leaped, but the monster grabbed her by her shirt collar, stopping her escape.

"Don't do that! You can't swim, remember?" he said.

He set Rachel on the ground, she curled into a little ball and trembled. "Please don't eat me!" she begged.

"I'm not going to eat you." the creature said softly. "Don't be afraid."

But Rachel shook her head and stayed in her little ball.

"Come on, I didn't mean to scare you that bad! I thought you'd just run away, that's all! I didn't expect you to faint!"

Rachel covered her ears. "Just leave me alone!" she said, half sobbing.

Now the monster really felt bad. This kid was really scared. If only he could make her feel better, but how?

Then he snapped his fingers, he got an idea. He reached over to Rachel and used his clawed hands to prod both of her sides. The girl yelped and shot her hands to her sides to shield them.

"Don't do that!"

"But you need cheering up." the monster said with a big smile. He wrestled her arms away from her and wiggled all his fingers into Rachel's' sides.

Rachel squealed and laughed. "Stahahahap it! Hahahaha!"

"Somebody's ticklish!" he giggled. He kept going and tickle-wrestled her to the floor every time she tried to escape.

"I got your tummy!" he teased as he tickled her stomach.

"Stohohohop! Not my tummeheeheeheey!" Rachel begged.

"Only if you stop being scared of me."

"Alrihihihight! I won't! Just stop!"

As promised, he stopped. Rachel wanted to retreat far away from him, but she was too weak. So she stayed where she was.

"So, no more screaming or running away, alright?" the monster said.

Rachel nodded.

"You got a name?" asked the creature.

"Rachel. And you are?"

"Ripjaws." he answered.

Rachel was a little nervous to know that was his name. "So...you're not going to eat me?"

Ripjaws shook his head. "Nah, it's hard to get the bones out of my teeth."

Rachel gasped, but Ripjaws laughed. "Relax, I'm just kidding!"

Rachel looked around. "Where exactly are we?"

"In my cave beneath the lake, it's the only place I can get my fair share of water."

Ripjaws noticed Rachel was staring at him. "What?"

"Uh, nothing." she replied, looking away.

Ripjaws held his arm out. "You want to touch?"

"S-Sure." Rachel reached and ran her hand across his arm. She quickly pulled it away. "Ugh, it's slimy!"

Ripjaws smiled. "Aw, thanks." He got up and helped Rachel up as well. "Anyway, I'd better get you out of here."

"But how?"

"Just hang onto me and hold your breath as long as you can. We'll be up there in no time."

Rachel did as told and held onto Ripjaws, she sucked in her biggest breath and Ripjaws dove into the water and began swimming at high speeds. He was like XLR8 underwater!

Rachel was safely brought back to shore. A little wet, but otherwise, alright. "Thanks, Ripjaws."

He gave her a thumbs up. "Anytime."

"Hey, Rachel!"

Ripjaws hid under the water and Rachel turned and saw Nick and Travis.

"I'm telling you, Travis! I was attacked by the fish man!" Nick squeaked.

"No, you just shoved me in the lake and I can't even swim!" Rachel shot back.

"What?! Nick, you're unbelievable!" Travis scolded.

Nick opened his mouth, but his eyes shot up when he saw a tall, scaly creature behind them with raised arms and sharp teeth exposed.

Travis let out a terrified scream and ran away.

Rachel and Travis turned around, but saw nothing there.

"Maybe he saw the monster." Rachel joked.

Travis chuckled. "You know, for someone who can't swim, you were pretty brave to come here."

Rachel was blushing pretty badly. "Uh, t-thanks."

"If you want swimming lessons, I can help you out. I'm the captain of the school's swim team."

Rachel beamed brightly. "R-Really?!" She cleared her throat to save face. "Uh, I mean, sure. I'd like that."

Travis gave her a wink. "Excellent. I'll text you." Then he walked off. "See you around."

Rachel sighed lovingly as he walked away. But stopped and turned when she heard laughing behind her.

She saw Ripjaws doing a cool guy pose and winked at Rachel. "I'll text ya sometime, baby." he mocked.

Now Rachel was bright red. "Shut up!" she said, embarrassed.

"Did you seal that offer with a kiss?" Ripjaws joked and made smooching sounds.

"I said shut up!" Rachel shouted, but Ripjaws wouldn't shut up.

"Alright, that's it!" Rachel began chasing Ripjaws all around the lake while the fish man kept laughing his fins off.

"You come back here!" Rachel ordered.

"Or what? You'll give me mouth to mouth?" Ripjaws laughed.

"Don't even joke like that!" Rachel said as the two friends ran together.


End file.
